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VaraHF 4.8.5 released
It is finally official, VaraHF4.8.5 was released after many days of work by EA5HVK and many testers. The long development time cause a bit of a rift around the world with APRS users operating on various incompatible versions at the same time. But, that is all behind with the 4.8.5 release today. If 4.8.4 has…
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The Constant Updates of VaraHF
I get it. Really I do. You’re eager to take the dive into HF APRS and you want to use VaraHF. You get things setup and working (hopefully because of this blog) and the next thing you know, there’s an update to VaraHF. OK, fine, update and back up and running again And then there’s…
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The How’s and Why’s of DigiPeating
There was a time that you couldn’t even talk about Digipeating on HF APRS. Actually, those new to VaraHF powered APRS, but plenty familiar with HF APRS will still roll their eyes. I’ve even seen an “ALL” targeted message “No Digi on HF APRS!!” But there is a time a place. Is Digipeating, that is…
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About iGating and How to Setup Your Client
I’m of the opinion that if you have an internet connection, than you should be gating APRS. What is an iGate? An iGate, or Internet Gateway, shares APRS packets to the internet based APRS Internet System (APRS-IS) network. Connecting to the APRS-IS expands your local local, tactical real-time two-way communications system, and makes it world-wide.…
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Common Vara HF APRS Frequencies
An important aspect of APRS is making you are on frequency. If you’re off, then there is not going to be anyone out there to decode your packet. All APRS activity is done on Upper Side Band (USB). Here are the most common frequencies used on HF APRS with the use of the Vara modem:…
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PinPoint and VaraHF setup
PinPoint APRS is one of the most popular APRS clients in use on HF bands. Frank, AB0WV, made this software to be very easy to use. It is what I first used for HF APRS. Let’s look at setting up VaraHF on PinPoint. Tools > OptionsAt the top of the screen, click on “Tools” and…
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YAAC and VaraHF
Yet Another APRS Client (YAAK) is Java based client created by Andrew Pavlin, KA2DDO. It is a free and open-source software, so if you have some Java writing skills you can create your plug-in. There are a few listed on the website as well. APRS creator, Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, was a big fan of YAAK…
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Setting up VaraHF
VaraHF is the go-between for your APRS client and the radio. The client sends the commonly used AX.25 APRS packet to VaraHF, Vara then converts the packet into a OFDM transmission, queues the radio and broadcasts. Likewise, VaraHF listens for ODFM transmissions over the air, picks up those packets, converts it back to AX.25 and…
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APRSIS32 and VaraHF
APRSIS32 is an incredible APRS client. It has more features, I jokingly say, then the developer KJ4ERJ even knows about. Just looking at the website you’re going to find a thousand pages of information, and that is not even fully complete. There is a lot to this piece of software and it can easily become…
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Virus? Windows Attack? No…
A lot of ham radio operators are some pretty smart folks. If they can’t find something they want, they make it. This carries over to a lot of the software that is used on ham radio. These amateurs brought us a lot of great software over the years, not the least of which for this…
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My first big mobile test
Conducted a bit of an experiment 31 January 2024 to check out tracking on HF APRS. I ran HF APRS at the same time I ran the standard VHF APRS and compared the results as shown on APRS.fi VHF is a FTM-400 with a roof mounted Comet CA-2x4sr, 50w HF is a FT-900 with a…
